Mexico orders platforms to verify users' ages in new decree
The decree took effect Oct. 14. Platforms have 30 calendar days to report what they did, and the text sets no penalties.
Mexico's presidency published a decree on Oct. 14 in the evening edition of the Diario Oficial de la Federación, the country's official gazette, aimed at making digital environments safer for children and teenagers. President Claudia Sheinbaum signed it, and it applies nationwide from that day.
The text covers digital platforms, which it defines as internet intermediary services where people interact, share or spread content. It names social networks, video games and app stores. Those platforms must verify users' ages with methods that go beyond self-declaration, classify and moderate content by age, offer parental supervision and turn on the strictest privacy settings by default.
They have 30 calendar days to document and report the steps they took, according to the fourth transitory article. The decree sets no penalties and does not define which verification method the authorities will accept.
What minors cannot see
Article 3 lists the content barred for minors:
- cyberbullying and harassment;
- sexual exploitation or abuse;
- violent extremism and hate speech;
- calls for violence among users;
- apology for crime;
- pornography;
- suicide, self-harm and eating disorders.
Article 5 also requires each platform to have a specialized contact available at all hours, every day of the year, and to keep evidence of what it removes for at least 90 business days.
What comes next
The third transitory article tells the Federal Executive's Legal Counsel Office to set up a working group to prepare regulatory proposals; it sets no deadline. Luisa María Alcalde, the legal counsel, said, according to Infobae, that "the Digital Agency will follow up" on the companies' progress. She also said platforms already identify and remove content aimed at minors.
Infobae reports that Meta, Microsoft, Apple, TikTok, Google, X and Huawei attended a meeting with the federal government before the signing. That is the government's account of their participation: as of this writing, no statement from any of the companies had been found.
The decree also carries the signatures of the defense, security, education and health departments and of the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency. In articles 6 and 7, the health department commits to promoting the Línea de la Vida helpline and its mental health programs, and the education department to pushing "ABC de las emociones," confidential reporting boxes and school protocols.
The first deadline to expire is the platforms' reports, 30 calendar days after Oct. 14.
